Trailborn Terms of Service

This document has not been reviewed by a lawyer.

Document version: 2026-10-10
Effective date: 10 October 2026

1. The provider

The service is provided by Michał Mijalski, a private individual running the Trailborn project under the name Forest Nap Studio.

• address: ul. Południowa 54, 42-229 Częstochowa, Poland
• e-mail: forestnapstudio@gmail.com
• point of contact for users and authorities (Articles 11 and 12 of the Digital Services Act): forestnapstudio@gmail.com, in Polish or English

2. What the service is

Trailborn is a mobile game in which the user's physical activity (steps and floors climbed) is turned into territory claimed on a map of the world. The service includes:

• a player account and saved progress;
• the map, conversion of activity into metres and claiming of road segments in the Solo, Team and Team War modes;
• rankings, player levels, daily quests, inventory and chests;
• teams together with team chat, and a global chat for all players;
• races between players and between teams;
• voluntary rewarded advertisements;
• a shop with the Trailborn+ subscription and chest bundles;
• friend invitations rewarded with free Trailborn+ days and chests;
• points, Bjørn's weekly challenge and community expeditions with rewards;
• flags with a message left on the map for other players.

Core play is free. The purchases described in section 13 are optional and are not needed to play, to claim territory or to win.

3. Technical requirements

• a device running Android 8.0 (API 26) or later, or an iPhone running an iOS version supported by the App Store;
• an internet connection;
• a Google account or an Apple account to sign in;
• to count activity: Health Connect (Android), the Health app (iPhone) or the phone's motion sensor;
• to play outdoors: location access.

4. Age

Trailborn may be used by people who are at least 16 years old. When you create an account you confirm, by continuing from the start screen that says so, that you are at least 16. Giving a false age is a breach of these terms and may result in account deletion.

5. Forming and ending the agreement

The agreement for the provision of the service by electronic means is formed when the account is created and these terms are accepted. It is concluded for an indefinite period.

The user may end the agreement at any time by deleting the account in the app (Settings → Account and data → Delete account) or through https://forestnap.com/delete-account/. Termination takes effect when the account is deleted and requires no reason. Deleting the account does not by itself cancel a subscription in the store — that is cancelled in Google Play or the App Store (section 13.2).

The provider may end the agreement with 14 days' notice, given in the app or by e-mail, and without notice in the case of a serious breach of these terms as described in section 7.

6. Rules of use

The user undertakes to:

• give true details when creating the account;
• not manipulate steps, the GPS signal or network traffic;
• not use software that automates play;
• not create multiple accounts to circumvent limits or sanctions;
• walk only in places that are safe and lawfully accessible, obey traffic rules, and not use the phone in a way that distracts from the surroundings.

Providing unlawful content is prohibited.

7. User content, moderation and sanctions

User content means: your nickname, team names, race names, messages in the team chat and the global chat, and messages left on flags (section 7.6).

7.1. Prohibited content

It is prohibited to publish content that:

• harasses, intimidates or demeans another person;
• constitutes hate speech on the basis of any protected characteristic;
• contains threats or incites violence;
• is sexual in nature involving minors or sexualises minors;
• contains another person's personal data disclosed without their consent;
• constitutes spam, advertising or an attempt at fraud;
• infringes copyright or other rights of third parties;
• is otherwise unlawful.

7.2. Reports

Any message, nickname, player profile or team name can be reported from within the app by choosing a reason and optionally adding a comment. Reports go to the moderation queue.

Any user can also be blocked — their messages stop being visible and no notifications about them arrive. A block applies in both chats, regardless of team membership, and remains in force after rejoining. The list of blocked people and the option to unblock are in Settings → Safety.

7.3. Sanctions

In the event of a breach a moderator may: remove the content, change a team name or nickname that breaches section 7.1, issue a warning, temporarily suspend the ability to post (up to 30 days), or block the account. The sanction is matched to the severity and repetition of the breach. An automatic filter masks profanity in messages; masking is not a sanction and does not replace moderation.

7.4. Deleting your own messages

The author may delete their own message within 48 hours of sending it. A team administrator may delete any message in their team. In the global chat other people's messages are deleted only by a moderator. All messages expire automatically after 48 hours.

7.5. Appeals

A moderator's decision may be appealed. The appeal is submitted in the app (Settings → Safety → Appeal a decision) with a justification. Appeals are reviewed by a human. A reviewed appeal may uphold the sanction or lift it; lifting removes the warning, suspension or account block.

7.6. Flags with a message

Flags exist only in Team War mode: only a player who belongs to a team can plant and find them. A player who is standing still may plant a flag with a short message (up to 140 characters) and leave one chest from their inventory beside it. A player may have one open flag at a time. Other players see the flag only after a moderator has checked the message. A moderator may reject a flag whose message breaches section 7.1 or that points to a private or dangerous place; the chest then goes back to the author. An approved flag is visible on the Team War map at the exact place where it was planted; the author's nickname, the message and the chest level are revealed only to the player who finds the flag. The chest goes to the first other player who reaches the flag, and the author receives a message about it. A flag nobody finds within 30 days disappears and the chest goes back to the author. Flags may be planted only in safe, publicly accessible places, and the message must not contain addresses or other personal data. When looking for a flag, follow section 6: do not enter private property or dangerous places.

8. Advertising

Advertising in Trailborn is entirely voluntary: advertisements are shown only when the user chooses to watch one in exchange for a reward — a chest (the first 3 ads of the day give a level 2 chest, later ones a level 1 chest; in app versions up to 1.1.47 always level 1) or a shortcut, that is an extra kilometre of road. There are no banners and no full-screen advertisements shown without the user's decision. Chests for advertisements are limited to 5 per day per account; the app shows the state of the limit before the advertisement is watched.

Whether an advertisement is personalised is decided by the user in the consent form shown before the first advertisement (in the EEA, the United Kingdom and Switzerland) and in the app's privacy settings. The details are described in the privacy policy.

The reward is granted once the advertising provider confirms that the advertisement was watched. If the confirmation does not arrive, the app allows a retry without watching another advertisement; rewards that were not granted can be raised as a complaint (section 11).

9. Races

A race is organised by a player with an active Trailborn+ subscription (the organiser); taking part in a race is free and only requires accepting an invitation. A race is solo (between players) or team (between teams; a team's result is the sum of its members' results).

There are two formats:

• route — the organiser picks a start and a finish, and the server measures the walking distance between them, never less than 100 km; the first to cover that distance with their own steps from the moment of the start wins;
• steps — whoever takes the most steps within a set period of 7, 14 or 30 days wins.

A race has at most 10 entrants. An organiser may run up to 3 races at a time and may call a race off until it has started. Progress is computed from the same activity records that feed the map, so it is subject to the same fair-play checks (sections 6 and 10). The winner — and in a team race every member of the winning team — receives a level 1 chest. The result is announced by a message in the app.

10. Health features

Trailborn reads steps and floors climbed to convert them into metres in the game.

Trailborn is not a medical device, does not diagnose, treat or monitor any health condition, and is not an emergency navigation system. The figures shown are indicative and depend on the accuracy of the device's sensors. Not every device counts floors; quests and statistics about floors are then unavailable, and the app says so.

11. Availability, changes to the service and complaints

Maps, positions and statistics may be inaccurate or temporarily unavailable. The provider may correct results obtained in breach of these terms and may change game mechanics, giving reasonable notice of material changes in the app.

Complaints about the service, including purchases and advertisement rewards, may be sent to forestnapstudio@gmail.com, stating the nickname, a description of the problem and the expected resolution. We handle complaints within 14 days of receipt and reply to the address the complaint came from.

12. Consumer rights

Nothing in these terms limits the rights of consumers under mandatory provisions of law, in particular consumer protection law and the provisions on contracts for the supply of digital content and digital services.

13. In-app purchases, free days and points

13.1. General rules

All purchases are made through the store the app was installed from — Google Play or the Apple App Store — under that store's rules. The price, currency and taxes are shown in the store before the purchase is confirmed. The provider does not receive payment details. Purchased goods are tied to the Trailborn account on which they were bought; they cannot be transferred to another account, exchanged for money or resold. Deleting the account forfeits unused goods.

A purchase is a contract for the supply of digital content. Goods are delivered immediately after the store confirms payment. By confirming the purchase the consumer requests immediate delivery and acknowledges that, once delivered, the 14-day right of withdrawal is lost. This does not exclude refunds the store offers under its own rules, nor rights arising from digital content not conforming to the contract — those are raised as a complaint (section 11).

13.2. Trailborn+

Trailborn+ is a monthly subscription that renews automatically until cancelled in the store (Google Play → Subscriptions, or Settings → Apple ID → Subscriptions). Cancelling does not interrupt access for the period already paid; access ends at the end of that period, and the provider does not refund the unused part of the period. The price is shown in the store. If the store offers a free trial, the store shows its length and conditions before purchase; when it ends the subscription becomes paid unless you cancel it first. The 10 level 3 chests and the gift described in section 13.5 are not given during a free trial.

Trailborn+ gives the subscriber: a level 2 chest every day, 10 level 3 chests for every month of the subscription, detailed statistics with CSV export, and the ability to organise races (section 9). The subscriber also gets a daily Bjørn’s Trail twice as long in Solo mode (200 m instead of 100 m) and, for every paid month, 3 days of Trailborn+ to give to another player (section 13.5). Apart from Bjørn’s Trail, Trailborn+ does not directly increase distance or territory; chests from the subscription contain the same items and have the same odds as any other chest (section 13.4).

13.3. Chest bundles

A chest bundle is a one-off purchase: 10 chests of level 1, 2 or 3, added to the inventory right after purchase. Chests can also be earned without paying: on the map, for points, for advertisements, for quests and races.

13.4. Chest contents and probabilities

A chest contains random equipment items (clothing and accessories for the character). Items affect play: every worn item other than the backpack increases the distance credited for steps. The bonus depends on the item's rarity and falls within a range: from +0.4 % to +0.6 % for a common item, and each higher rarity level moves both ends up by the same amount, up to a range of +4 % to +6 % for an ancient item. The combined bonus from all worn items is capped at 25 %. Instead of a distance bonus, the backpack increases the chance of finding a chest during a walk. The chest level decides only the number of draws: a level 1 chest gives 1 item, level 2 gives 2 items, level 3 gives 3 items. The odds of each rarity are the same for every chest, every draw and every player, whether the chest was bought or earned:

Within a rarity every item in the catalogue has the same chance. The exact bonus is drawn together with the item from 10 evenly spaced values within its rarity's range, from the lower to the upper end; each of these values has the same chance, 10 %. The backpack's bonus is drawn the same way. The draw takes place on the server; its result is recorded and cannot be changed by opening again. The app shows the same table in the inventory. Items of rarity 2 and above wear out while worn, after a number of weeks equal to their rarity; the app warns 3 days before an item wears out. Duplicates can be sold for points or ten items of one rarity exchanged for one item of the next rarity.

13.5. Free Trailborn+ days, invitations and the gift

Free Trailborn+ days can be received without paying: for invitations, in events such as expeditions, as a gift from another player or from the provider. They cost nothing and do not renew by themselves. They do not include the 10 level 3 chests or the gift described below. If a paid subscription is running, free days wait and start by themselves when it ends. Free days cannot be exchanged for money or transferred to another account.

Invitations. Taking part in invitations is free and requires no purchase. When a person invited through a personal link or code plays on 3 different days within 30 days of accepting the invitation, they and the inviter each receive 7 days of Trailborn+. Whoever invited the inviter receives 2 days, the person one level higher 1 day, and everyone above a level 1 chest. Rewards are not given for fake accounts, accounts created to invite oneself or blocked accounts, and the provider may withdraw rewards obtained in breach of section 6. Invitation rewards do not depend on anything the invited people buy.

The Trailborn+ gift. For every paid month of the subscription the buyer receives 3 days of Trailborn+ to give away: to a chosen player, to a random player without Trailborn+, or to nobody (the days are then lost). The gift waits 30 days for a decision and then expires. A chosen person learns who the days are from; a randomly chosen person does not. A free trial does not earn a gift.

13.6. Points and the weekly challenge

Points are earned in the game: for progress (levels and achievements), in events and by selling items. We do not sell points; they cannot be exchanged for money or transferred to another player, and they have no monetary value. Points are spent on chests in the game (section 13.4).

On a Monday a player with at least 1000 points may take on Bjørn's weekly challenge and set aside 1000 points. The target is their step count from the previous week, rounded up to a whole hundred and never below 30 000. If they take at least that many steps from Monday to Sunday, they get the points back plus 1000 more; if not, the points set aside are lost. The result depends only on the player's own steps, with no element of chance, and the challenge is subject to the fair-play checks (sections 6 and 10). An account blocked for breaching these terms receives no payout.

Expeditions and other events have their rules and rewards described on their own screen in the app.

14. Intellectual property

Trailborn's code, artwork and texts belong to the provider or are used by the provider under a licence. Third-party data and components are subject to the licences indicated in the app (Settings → Creator, credits and licenses).

Road data and OpenStreetMap

The road network walked in the game comes from OpenStreetMap and is covered by the Open Database License (ODbL) 1.0. The database we build from it — road segments prepared for the game — is a derivative database within the meaning of that licence. In line with the ODbL we make it available under the same licence to anyone who asks; an e-mail to the contact address is enough. This does not include player data: accounts, routes, claimed territory or statistics — these do not come from OpenStreetMap and are not part of the derivative database. Country and district boundaries and some place names also come from the Overture Maps Foundation (the “divisions” theme, licensed under ODbL 1.0; it contains OpenStreetMap data and data from geoBoundaries, Esri Community Maps and Land Information New Zealand under CC BY 4.0). We make the area boundaries prepared from them available on the same terms.

15. Governing law and disputes

Polish law applies to the agreement. The choice of law does not deprive consumers of the protection afforded by mandatory provisions of the law of the country of their habitual residence.

Consumers may use out-of-court complaint and redress procedures; in Poland, for example, the help of a municipal or district consumer ombudsman or proceedings before a provincial Trade Inspection office. The Polish competition and consumer authority (UOKiK) lists such bodies at https://polubowne.uokik.gov.pl. Consumers in another EU country can turn to the European Consumer Centre in their country. The European Commission's ODR platform was closed on 20 July 2025.

16. Changes to these terms

We will announce changes to these terms in the app at least 14 days in advance. The version of the terms accepted by the user is stored with the account together with the date. Not accepting a new version entitles the user to end the agreement by deleting the account.

Version 2026-10-10 compared with version 2026-09-29 describes features that are already in the game or arrive with this version: flags with a message in Team War mode (section 7.6), invitations and the invitation chain, free Trailborn+ days and the Trailborn+ gift (section 13.5), points and the weekly challenge (section 13.6), the longer Bjørn’s Trail with Trailborn+ and the free trial. It updates the advertisement chest and its daily limit (section 8), the description of the item bonus and of how its exact value is drawn (section 13.4), the licence of the Overture data (section 14) and the information on out-of-court dispute resolution after the closure of the ODR platform (section 15), and adds the Digital Services Act point of contact (section 1). It does not reduce any existing user rights and does not require a new acceptance.

Version 2026-09-29 compared with version 2026-09-26: chat messages expire after 48 hours instead of 24, and the author may delete their own message throughout that time. This applies to messages sent from 29 September 2026. It does not reduce any existing user rights and does not require a new acceptance.

Version 2026-09-26 compared with version 2026-08-29 describes features that are already in the game: Sign in with Apple and the iPhone version, the global chat, races, the shortcut for an advertisement, and purchases of Trailborn+ and chest bundles together with the chest content probabilities and the bonuses items give. It does not reduce any existing user rights.